Why Antarctica’s emperor penguins could be extinct by 2100

Subject: Environment

Context:

Greater conservation efforts are needed to protect Antarctic ecosystems, and the populations of up to 97 per cent of land-based Antarctic species could decline by 2100 if we don’t change tack, our new research has found.

Threats to Antarctic biodiversity:

Antarctica’s land-based species have adapted to survive the coldest, windiest, highest, and driest continent on Earth.
The species includes two flowering plants, hardy moss and lichens, numerous microbes, tough invertebrates and hundreds of thousands of breeding seabirds, including the emperor and Adélie penguins.
Antarctica helps regulate the global climate by driving atmospheric circulation and ocean currents and absorbing heat and carbon dioxide. Antarctica even drives weather patterns in Australia.

Climate change impact on Antarctica:

Antarctica’s ice-free areas are predicted to expand, rapidly changing the habitat available for wildlife.
As extreme weather events such as heat waves become more frequent, Antarctica’s plants and animals are expected to suffer.
Nematode worm Scottnema lindsayae: The species lives in extremely dry soils, and is at risk as warming and ice-melt increases soil moisture.
Some may benefit initially. These include the two Antarctic plants, some mosses and the gentoo penguin.
- These species may increase their populations and become more widely distributed in the event of more liquid water (as opposed to ice), more ice-free land and warmer temperatures.

What to do?

These strategies include measures such as granting special protections to species and increasing biosecurity to prevent the introduction of non-native species.

Emperor penguin:

It is the largest member of the penguin order (Sphenisciformes). It is also the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species.
Geographical Presence: Endemic to Antarctica
IUCN Status: Near threatened.
The emperor penguin relies on ice for breeding and is the most vulnerable of Antarctica’s species.
The emperor penguin is at risk of extinction by 2100.

Moss:

Mosses are common flowerless plants found in all regions, especially in damp (humid) or shady locations.
It generally absorbs water and nutrients from their immediate environments, so it can reflect changes to ecosystems.
So it can be used as a potential bioindicator to monitor urban pollution and to measure the impact of atmospheric change.
As a bioindicator, mosses respond to pollution or drought stress by changing their shape, and density or disappearing.
This characteristic will allow scientists to calculate atmospheric alterations and air pollution.
Drought stress tends to occur in mosses found in areas with high levels of nitrogen pollution, which has a negative impact on health and biodiversity.